Electronic nail filer

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for trimming a person&#39;s nails is provided. The apparatus comprises a body having a longitudinally extending handle that is connected to a longitudinally extending base with the base being co-extensive with and spaced from the handle. Housed within the body is a power supply for supplying power to the device as well as an electrical drive device that is powered by a power supply. The base of the apparatus has a bottom portion having a longitudinally extending support or mounting plate. The support or mounting plate removably captures an emery board or similar nail file element. The support or mounting plate is mechanically coupled to the drive device and is reciprocally moveable in a longitudinal direction in response to the drive device being electrically activated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to filing and/or trimming fingernails andtoenails, and, more particularly, to an electrical apparatus for filingand/or trimming fingers or toenails by selectively applying a movingsurface.

A conventional way of trimming one's fingernails or toenails is with theuse of a nail clipper or a scissor. These devices leave the nail courseor jagged edged, and it is common to file the edge of the nail witheither an “emery” board or sometimes with a metallic file in order tosmooth out the nail edge. Emery boards are pieces of hard wood orwood-like board which have emery affixed or have emery paper glued tothem, thereby rendering them both coarse and flexible. They are widelyused by individuals and beauty shop manicurists to shape and smoothenthe nail. Because emery boards are made inexpensively so as to bedisposable, they are a sanitary alternative to metal nail files. Theflexibility of an emery board also makes this method preferred over theuse of a metallic file. In addition to filing, the emery board also canbe used as a trimming device in place of a clipper or scissor.

The problem of manually using an emery board is that it is both a tiringand time consuming process. Accordingly, it would be desirable toprovide an apparatus or device which enables one to file and smooth outa fingernail using an emery board and which operates rapidly in cuttingand filing the nail.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, an apparatus fortrimming a person's nails is provided. The apparatus comprises a bodyhaving a longitudinally extending handle that is connected to alongitudinally extending base with the base being co-extensive with andspaced from the handle. Housed within the body is a power supply forsupplying power to the device as well as an electrical drive device thatis powered by a power supply. The base of the apparatus has a bottomportion having a longitudinally extending support or mounting plate. Thesupport or mounting plate removably captures an emery board or similarnail file element. The support or mounting plate is mechanically coupledto the drive device and is reciprocally moveable in a longitudinaldirection in response to the drive device being electrically activated.

In one embodiment, the support or mounting plate is formed with a pairof spaced-apart longitudinally extending fins between which the emeryboard is captured. In its preferred design, the spaced-apart fins areoutwardly moveable in a transverse direction by means of a springmechanism so that the emery board or nail file can be disposedtherebetween for capture by the fins.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improvedapparatus for trimming a person's nails.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus fortrimming a person's nails that is easy and safe to use. A further objectof the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for trimming aperson's nails which utilizes replaceable emery boards sold in themarket place.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatusfor trimming a person's nails which controllably applies a reciprocalmoving abrasive surface.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will, in part, beobvious and will, in part, be apparent from the following description.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope ofthe invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is made to thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the nail trimming apparatus of theinvention before a conventional emery board is captured along the bottomthereof;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inventive nail trimming apparatusshowing the emery board being captured along the bottom of theapparatus;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the inventive nail trimming apparatusdepicted in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view of one alternative form of the inventivenail trimming apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the underside of theinventive nail trimming apparatus as depicted in FIG. 6 but showing thepair of fins spread apart for enabling capture of an emery board; and

FIG. 9 is a front view of a nail trimming packaging system for marketingand sale and which includes the inventive nail trimming apparatus and aplurality of different emery boards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electronic nail file or nailtrimming apparatus, generally indicated at 11, is shown. Nail fileapparatus 11 is defined by a substantially U-shaped moulded body 13 madeof plastic or metal. Body 13 includes a longitudinally extending handleportion 15 and an integrally formed longitudinally extending baseportion 17. Handle portion 15 and base 17 are co-extensive with andspaced from one another. Body 13 is further defined by top wall 19, sidewalls 21 and bottom wall 23. Handle portion 15 of apparatus 11 is formedwith a selectively removable front panel 20 (see FIG. 3) for enablingaccess inside apparatus 11.

Referring to FIG. 3, the inside of apparatus 11 is now shown. Apparatus11 is formed with a pair of tubular compartments 33 for removablyhousing a pair of replaceable batteries 31 within handle portion 15.Rearwardly of battery compartments 33 is a motor 35 fixedly mountedwithin apparatus 11. Motor 35 is an electrical communication by means ofwires 35 with a switch 37. Switch 37 is selectively activated by meansof an operating button 38 protruding along the rear portion of top wall19. When button 38 is pressed, it closes the circuit within switch 37,thereby activating motor 35. Motor 35 has a rotatable shaft 41 that isconnected to a clutch unit 43. Clutch unit 43 consists of a first clutchmember 47, rotatable in response to the rotation of shaft 41, and asecond clutch member 49, reciprocally moveable in response to therotation of first clutch member 47. Second clutch member 49 has a firstpair of supporting feet 51A downwardly depending from the forwardportion thereof and a second pair of feet 51B downwardly depending fromthe rear portion thereof. Feet pairs 51A and 51B are fixed to alongitudinally extending mounting plate 25 slidably moveable in alongitudinal direction with respect to bottom wall 23 of apparatus 11(see also FIG. 4).

Referring to FIGS. 3-5, mounting plate 25 is integrally formed with apair of longitudinally extending and downwardly depending ribs 27. Ribs27 are spaced apart from one another such that a conventional emeryboard 29 can be captured therebetween and overly plate 25. In order tocapture emery board 29 along mounted plate 25 and between ribs 27 (seeFIG. 4), emery board 29 may be slid therewithin from one end of bottomwall 23. Alternatively, ribs 27 may be moulded to be slightly outwardlyflexible in order for an emery board to be inserted between ribs 27 forcapture thereby.

In operation, the user presses a button 38, which activates switch 37,thereby causing motor 35 to operate. When motor 35 operates, it causessecond clutch member 49 of clutch unit 43 to reciprocally move in alongitudinal direction. Because second clutch member 49 is coupled tomounting plate 25, by means of feet pairs 51A and 51B, mounting plate25, with captured emery board 29, reciprocally moves back and forth at ahigh rate of speed. Such movement of mounting plate 25 with capturedemery board 29 effectively mimics the movement of an emery board duringa manual application to a nail. The advantage, of course, is that therate of the speed of reciprocal movement is far greater than could bemanually generated.

As can be appreciated, once emery board 29 has worn out as a result ofextensive use of apparatus 11, it may be removed from capture alongmounting plate 25 and replaced with a new emery board. In addition, thecaptured emery board, whether or not it is worn out, may be replaced inposition over moving plate 25 by an emery board having a differentcoarseness level.

Referring now to FIGS. 6-8, a second embodiment of the inventive nailtrimming apparatus is shown. In this embodiment, bottom wall 23 has apair of space slots 26 through which pairs of feet 51A and 51B extendwith the ends of pairs of feet 51A and 51B being fixed to a mountingplate 25 ^(l). Mounting plate 25 ^(l) has a pair of spring elements 53fixed thereto along the underside thereof. Each of spring elements 53(see FIG. 6) has a hub 57 and rivet 59 which fixedly attaches hub 57 tothe underside of mounting plate 25 ^(l). Each of spring elements 53further includes a pair of spring arms 55. One of spring arms 55 of eachspring elements 53 is fixedly attached along the inside surface of afirst longitudinally extending moveable fin 27 ^(l); similarly, theother spring arm 55 of each spring element 53 is attached along theinside surface of a second longitudinally extending moveable fin 27^(l).

Accordingly, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, each of moveable fins 27^(l), which are substantially parallel to and spaced from one another,may be selectively urged in an outward transverse direction in order toenlarge the space therebetween so as to enable emery board 29 to fitalong the underside of mounting plate 25 ^(l). Once emery board 29 is inappropriate position along the underside of mounting plate 25 ^(l), fins27 are released and spring arms 55 of spring elements 53 urge fins 25^(l) towards each other in the position shown in FIG. 6. As a result,fins 27 ^(l) now capture emery board 29 therebetween.

In FIG. 9, a packaging unit, suitable for sale and purchase is shown at61. Packaging unit 61 houses a single inventive nail file apparatus 11and a plurality of different emery boards 29A, 29B and 29C. Each ofemery boards 29A-29C can be manufactured to have a different coarsenesslevel as compared to the coarseness of the remaining emery boards housedin packaging 61. Alternatively, each emery board 29A-29C may havedifferent width size; in accordance with the inventive embodiment ofFIGS. 6-8, different width size emery boards may be accommodated forcapture along the bottom of apparatus 11.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction andarrangement of parts as exemplified in the claims.

1. An apparatus for filing or trimming a person's nail comprising: abody including a longitudinally extending base; an electronicallyoperable drive device housed within the body; an electrical power supplyhoused within the body for supplying electrical power to the drivedevice; wherein said longitudinally extending base has a bottom with alongitudinally extending support longitudinally moveable with respect tosaid bottom; wherein said longitudinally moveable support is designed toremovably capture a nail file or emery board along its entire length,said support being mechanically coupled to said drive device andreciprocally moveable in a longitudinal direction in response to thedrive device being electronically activated.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the body comprises a longitudinally extending handle connectedto said longitudinally extending base, the longitudinal extending basebeing coextensive with and spaced from said longitudinally extendinghandle.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said body includes aremovable panel for enabling access inside said body.
 4. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein said body has an operating button for selectivelyactivating said drive device.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein saidsupport is coupled to drive device by means of a clutch unit.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein said support has a pair of spaced apartdownwardly depending ribs between which said nail file or emery board isremovably captured.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said ribs areflexible in a lateral direction.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, whereinsaid ribs are outwardly moveable in a lateral direction along saidsupport.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said support includes aspring mechanism for selectively urging said ribs to outwardly move. 10.An apparatus for trimming a person's nail comprising: a body having asurface; a drive device in said body electronically operable by means ofa power supply; and a nail file or emery board; wherein said apparatusbody removably captures said nail file or emery board along said surfacesuch that said file or board is grabbed substantially along its entirelength, wherein said nail file or emery board when captured isreciprocally moveable in a longitudinal direction in response toactivation of said drive device.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, furtherincluding a switch electrically connected to said drive device foractivating said drive device when said switch is in one of an open orclosed condition.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the bodyincludes an activation button for closing said switch when said buttonis pressed.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10, further including a pair ofspaced apart fins for selectively capturing said nail file or emeryboard along said base surface.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinsaid fins are selectively moveable in a lateral direction between afirst open position such that said nail file or emery board hassufficient space to be inserted between said fins and a second closedcondition such that said disposed nail file or emery board is fixedlycaptured by said fins.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein said finsare selectively moveable between said positions by means of a springmechanism.
 16. A system for maintaining a person's nails in a filed ortrimmed condition comprising: a plurality of off-the-shelf nail files oremery boards; and an electronic nail filing apparatus defined by a bodyhaving a support surface and including a drive mechanism housed withinthe body; said support surface having means for removably capturing anyone of said nail files or emery boards along its entire length, saidnail files or emery boards being reciprocally moveable in a longitudinaldirection when captured by said capturing means; said reciprocalmovement being in response to said drive mechanism being activated. 17.The system of claim 16, wherein each of said nail files or emery boardshas a surface made of a material with a different coarseness value thanany of the other nail files or emery boards.
 18. The system of claim 17,wherein said capturing means includes a spaced apart pair of finsbetween which one of said nail files or emery boards is selectivelyretained.
 19. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein said apparatus furtherincludes spring means for selectively urging said fins to move apart ina lateral direction.